E-Paper
IOL implant changed face of eye surgeries
HE INTRODUCED to India the first Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) implant surgery way back in 1976. But before he could be crowned as the 'Father of Intra Ocular Lens Implant Surgery,' Prof Daljit Singh faced one of the worst opposition from all quarters for full 18 years.
HE INTRODUCED to India the first Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) implant surgery way back in 1976. But before he could be crowned as the 'Father of Intra Ocular Lens Implant Surgery,' Prof Daljit Singh faced one of the worst opposition from all quarters for full 18 years.
Undeterred by the criticism, which "only helped in bringing out the best" he continued his stint with the new techniques, which forever changed the face of ophthalmic surgeries in India.
"It was the question of bomb or boon, when I started IOLs in Amritsar in the year 1976. People thought that I was implanting bomb and not lens. They failed to understand that the lens implant will rehabilitate the patients after cataract surgery and get rid of thick glasses. But I was confident that one day this surgery will be accepted by masses," recalled Prof Daljit Singh, Professor Emeritus, Medical College Amritsar.
In the year 1982, Prof Singh established the first Indian IOL Society with only five to six members. Now, over 1500 doctors have joined the society. "I invited ophthalmologists from all over India to explain the benefits of IOL technique.
They felt confident after practising the technique and started it at other centres in India. In 1997, the US allowed the trials of IOLs. It was popularly known as artisan's lens at that time," he added.
Prof Singh is among doctors, who freely admits that there was hardly any advancement in the field of eye care, in the past five years.
What we heard was only a propaganda. We got only new tools for better management of ophthalmic surgeries. But if we consider the last seven years, a new FUGO blade technique has been introduced, which is very useful in every field of ophthalmic surgery, he adds.
Incidentally, amid all the speculations and criticism, I was the first in India to use the technique in 1999 at Amritsar. Now, the tool is also being used at, Escorts Hospital for bypass surgery, AIIMS and the ophthalmic centre, Agra.
The advantage of FUGO blade is that it cuts without collateral effects and replaces forceps, scissors and cautery. There is no burning of tissue with this tool, he says.
Prof Singh, however, feels that most of medical institutes are under equipped to carry out research activities.
"It's not that, India is not open to new techniques. But the problem is we don't have enough tools and equipment to do advance surgeries," Prof Singh stated.
